Quatermass wrote:I got the thing about Onan straight away (partly because I remembered a scene from The League of Gentlemen where Harvey Denton gives a lecture about 'onanism' to his nephew Benjamin).

"Spilling your seed" ( ) is called 'onanieren' in German. So no big surprise there... I still can't see why you would call a dog Onan - as far as I know he only spilled and didn't mate with chair legs... and people's legs ... and ... well, I guess we all know THAT kind of dog.

I'm a bit behind everyone else i'm afraid, Desperately playing catchup, i'm only on my 15th "TP" book but hoping for "Dodger" for my birthday next month, might even get some others as well i've got three daughters

I like Dodger. It is cleverley written, witty and so wonderful to describe Charles Dickens as a bit of a scribbler! A Super book. Loved it! Loved it! Loved it! Plus which I loved the description of Seven Dials. Ah, the Rookeries... and as for that scene with Queen Vic and Albert...excellent!

Finished it last night and really enjoyed it too! There was a lot of slang in it that I was completely unfamiliar with, but thankfully the meanings were fairly obvious due to the context. Not all, but most. It was funny to discover that the word "crib" is an old slang, not a modern one. Although I think my favorite was "cove". Couldn't tell you why though.

“It is the peculiar nature of the world to go on spinning no matter what sort of heartbreak is happening.”― Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees:

Apparantly, my brother was given Dodger for his birthday. He rang me last week saying, and I quote "I've finished it. You'd think it was written for Children, wouldn't you?" (coughs in an embarrased fashion at having a 62 year old brother who thinks Sir T is a waste of ink). However, he has now read a Pratchett, so at least he is starting to act like a human being again!

As for the slang. Growing up in the fifties/ sixties in London E17, we were using Cove to mean anyone who was over 15. There were certainly some dodgy Coves where I grew up!

meerkat wrote:Apparantly, my brother was given Dodger for his birthday. He rang me last week saying, and I quote "I've finished it. You'd think it was written for Children, wouldn't you?" (coughs in an embarrassed fashion at having a 62 year old brother who thinks Sir T is a waste of ink). However, he has now read a Pratchett, so at least he is starting to act like a human being again!